Ok, so first off...if you read my last post you may want to read the comment from my mom. YES, ok fine, I was a teacher´s worst nightmare for quite a few years. I actually thought of the same thing and told Jason that I thought that maybe the Lord was allowing me to experience a little of what I put my teachers through. haha. Oh well.

So, today is another holiday...no school. I believe that today we are celebrating Peter and Paul. Those good ole´ saints. Hmm. So, what´s new? Well, apparently there was supposed to be a huge earthquake and tsunami. It was predicted for this morning at 4 am...it never came, which is good! :) We had a pretty full weekend which was nice since it was a long one. Let´s see...

On Friday we went and had a meeting with our district coordinator. She informed us that in a couple of weeks we will be receiving 5-10 more volunteers in our area. They will be here for the remaining 4 months. That could be fun! I´m hoping for a girl!!!! I am here with 4 guys...I´m the only girl. After having a meeting she invited us to go to Caldera and stay at there beach house there. So us volunteers when out an got deep fried empenadas...yumo! She had some other people over also. Jason and I made it until 3 am and then we pooped out. Most gatherings at night last until about 5am or 6 here. Way too crazy for us old married peeps! hehe.

On Saturday morning we woke up and went to the house of a volunteer. His host family has been wanting to meet us. They have a 10 year old son and it was his birthday. So, we were invited to come. We got there in the morning and helped with some decorations and food prep. It was really fun. It never ceases to amaze me how we are taken in like family...even though we have never met these people. They said good-bye to me like I was their daughter. haha. Funny stuff. Oh, one thing that I haven´t figured out. I tell people that my name in Anna. When I do they say, "Oooooooh, Anita." Hmmm. It´s happend a lot of times and so I think they add an "-ita" as a term of endearnment. Not sure.

Anyways, we ate a ton of food and I am paying for it now. Ugh. Also, a fun experience...Aji in the eye. Aji is a hot pepper here. We really like it...esp. Jason becuase he really likes hot food. So, we were talking about how unpleasant Aji in the eye is. 5 minutes later, after breaking up the aji with my fingers and putting it on my food, I rub my eye. Aaaaah! It was like a little fire in my eye. Wow, very unpleasant. For an hour or so later my eye was hot...like temperature wise. A very strange sensation! haha.

Ok, welp, that´s all for now. I think that Jason will be posting some pics of our weekend!!!!

F-F-F-Freeeeeeeezing!

So, it´s cold. Oh, it´s me the original owner of this blog! haha. Anyways, it´s so cold. Soooooo cold. There is no central heat in this country. Í have yet to find it anyways. It´s so cold that I teach in my wool coat and gloves. It´s so cold that I can see my breath in my classroom...and in the teacher´s lounge. Jason found out that the reason why they don´t heat the rooms is becuase they don´t want the kids to get sick. I guess going from cold outside to warm inside too quickly makes you sick. Not convinced. The girls have to wear skirts as part of their uniform...short ones. It seems like they are more likely to get sick just sitting there in the cold. Could be wrong though.

Ok, so honesty time. The kids are WORKIN´me! haha. Honestly, I´m no longer a novelty and they have decided that the time has come for them to release their full fury on me. haha. Wow. I think that I used to think that US classrooms were crazy. Hmmm. There are a lot of GREAT and quiet kids, don´t get me wrong. But, there are a lot of very wild kids too. Anyways, I´ve learned a new command, "Fuera". haha, that means "get out". I´ve been using it a lot. Once I´ve given you 8 warnings it´s time to leave my classroom. Anyways, all is well, but I could certainly use prayer on how to be patient and loving...and how to also teach the one´s that actually want to learn without focusing so much on the one´s that are not into this whole thing called "school"! Thanks! Love to you all!

Feliz dia de Papa!!!

Happy Father´s Day!!!!

Thanks for being such a great dad! You´re the best a gal could ask for...even if you are crazy and land your airplane with just one wheel!!! :) Sorry we´re in Chile for moms and pops day! We wish we could see you both and give you hugs! Love you!

A funny story

Hey everyone!

Well, I recently remembered a really funny story that happened to me about a month ago. Ok, here is what happened. Anna and I had to go downtown to meet the other volunteers from the program and try for the second time to get our Visa. Well, after getting shut down again because of government nonsense we decided to go to the Plaza and hang out. Anna, Zack (another volunteer), and I were sitting next to the fountain in the center of the plaza, basking in the warm sun. I had bought Cotten Candy on a stick and was sharing it with Anna and Zack as we talked. After we finished the Cotten Candy I was playing with the wooden stick, just drumming it against my leg, when an old man walked by and out of no where grabbed my Cotten Candy stick! He came from my left so I never saw him coming and he non-chalantly (spelling?) grabbed the stick from me! I was surprised by this sudden event but somehow decided in an instant I wanted my stick and hung onto it, long enough that he had to yank it from me. Without pausing this old gentleman kept walking and started using my stick to pick ear wax from his ears!!!!!!!!!!!!! At first we all just froze, but after a few seconds we couldn´t stop laughing! What was he thinking? Is this normal here in Chile?! The whole thing was hillarious and we just figured that his ear wax was killing him and he just needed my stick more than I did :).

So, that is my funny story. I hope you guys enoyed it!

Valle Elquí Photos

Here are some more photos from Anna´s and my trip to La Serena a week ago. The highlight of that trip was taking a very SLOW public bus up the Elquí Valley which is famous for its beautiful views, grapevines, and pisco (hard alcohol made from grapes). The bus ride was actually a lot of fun because it was with all of the locals instead of tourists and it went slow so we got to see a lot of the valley up close. So, here are some pictures from that day trip, mainly of the pueblo Pisco Elquí and surrounding area.This photo is of the main plaza in Pisco Elquí where we first got dropped off. The church was very quaint looking and a good place to start snapping photos.
Yours truly posing with a sign on a random street in Pisco Elquí. Anna and I always seem to walk EVERYWHERE when we get to a new place. Partly we do it to get to know the area and partly to see how locals live (not just the tourist locations).

My lovely wifey. Here we are walking down a dirt road that was sprayed with water so the dust didn´t get kicked up into the air by cars. Nice and muddy!

The views were incredible and like always the photos just don´t look as good as the real thing. I am sure it can get only prettier when the grapevines still have all of their leaves.

The weather there is perfect for growing grapes. The valley retains heat so the grapesvines still had their leaves (not these ones though) while most down in the lower valley didn´t.

The best is yet to come!

Hola amigos!

How is everyone? Well, I don´t have much time to blog...the joys of being abroad, but I wanted to show you guys some pictures from Anna´s and my trip to La Serena last week. The best pictures will have to wait until next time (Valle Elquí)!!

Downtown La Serena

Museum
This exhibition is of Easter Island

A Real Life Easter Island Statue!!!

This Statue has a crazy story! I´ll tell about it later though...

Trying to feel bad about eating KFC...3 times!

Mmmm....McFlurry with Manjar

McFlurry with Oreo and Manjar!

School is back in session!

BACK IN SCHOOL !! :)

YEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Finally! Anna and I are back in school, teaching after a 3 week nationwide teachers strike. The break was a mix of fun and boredom (mostly fun since we traveled :), but overall we are very happy to be back in school. Honestly, it has been long enough that we feel a bit like we are starting over again. Yet, I think that we will fall back into the swing of things in no time and I already feel the rythm coming back. It was unfortunate that the students, Anna, and I were caught in the middle of the strike and now we have to make up the lost time. Two good things did come from the strike: 1) we got our winter vacation early, before the prices increase as well as the number of travelers 2) the teachers are going to receive the money promised to them.

A bit of background on the why the strike happened (from what I understand): The teachers here in Chile were supposed to receive an increase in their salary the last couple of years, but they never got it. The government sent the money to each reagion, but the money was used up and the teachers never recieved it. This wasn´t fair to the teachers who, just like at home, don´t get paid what they deserve. So, they went on strike for a day or so when Anna and I first arrived, but that didn´t get anyones attention. So, they went on a longer strike...3 weeks to be exact until an agreement was reached. Strikes are a reality here in Chile...BUT before you go ahead and pass judgement remember that even more "developed countries" go on strike often. For example, traveling was often a pain for me in Italy because there always seemed to be a strike going on with the train workers, bus workers, etc. But, I do think that people here strike too often and wish that it wasn´t so common.

Anyways, the good news is that Anna and I are back to teaching! I can´t believe we only have 6 months left of teaching! There are a lot of things that we both miss about home (i.e. KFC for Anna :)...check out the last post), but we have loved being here so much that 6 months seems too little time left to enjoy everything. There are many things that I have really loved about Chile & Chileans and here is a small list:

-The food!

Bread is better here, there are tons of new sweets to try, etc.!

-The language.

Even Chileans here admit that they speak fast and with a lot of "modismos", but their rythm of speaking and the different words they use makes it all the more fun and unique to learn.

-The people.

Chileans are very affectionate, much more than we are, especially at our church. On the flip side they are very dependent on their families, but on the positive side very relational and supportive.

-The landscapes

Chile has some AMAZING places to see, mostly national parks and other outdoors places to go, i.e. Torres del Paine.

-Soccer!

Soccer is the National sport here and there is something nice about having one sport that everyone is into instead of a multitude of sports.

-The Wine

Chilean wine is very good here and much cheaper than back in CA.

Well, these are just a few of my favorite things about Chile. We have been here just a short time so I am sure that Anna and I will discover more things that we like :)!!

Confession Time

Jason and I decided to do a little more traveling. We are in a place called La Serena. La Serena has about 500,000 peeps and is a bit more "Americanized," for lack of a better word, then Copiapo. We found a mall and in that mall found a food court. In this particular food court there were a couple of American fast food joints (to my delight!)...one of which was a KFC (I LOVE my fried food). There are ZERO companies from the USA where we live in Copiapo. We have been in La Serena for 2 days. We have had KFC two times. And YES, we will be having it again tomorrow before we go home. Did I mention that we also had a McFlurry for dessert? Yeah, we did. It did have a Chilean flair though. We were able to have both Oreo AND Manjar (dulce de leche...Chile´s sweet that is in everything!!!!) in it. It´s my new favorite combo. Yummers!

(In case you are wondering Chile isn´t really known for it´s resaraunts. We weren´t really missing out on much by opting for KFC. Man, do I miss my fried food though!!! Can´t wait for tomorrow´s meal...with my Orea Manjar McFlurry for dessert!!! We are soooooo lame!!!!)